DJ Zack (Zack Wonder) has just begun his career as a DJ
in Second Life. “I just found that I had
amassed a nice collection of oldies, soul, and funk on my mobile phone, and I
was listening to my collection in ‘shuffle’ mode all the time. Sometimes there
was this sensation of serendipity in the sequence of tunes, and I thought I
could create ‘mix tapes’ that would more or less tell a story,” he explains
his beginnings.

DJ Zack says he brought up his DJ aspirations in
discussions with people he didn’t even know had tried this before, and quickly
got a handful of contacts. “The DJ
community is very collegial,” DJ Zack explains with enthusiasm. “Everyone was so helpful, and when I was
running into little snags, quirks, and problems as I plowed my way ahead, my DJ
contacts quickly found the answers to my questions.”

Aside from the technical side, getting actually to play
somewhere is the next step. “You need
somewhere to test your technical setup,” points out Zack Wonder. “Once you are confident that the streaming
works, you can approach club owners.” Established clubs have full schedules
and are hesitant to take on beginners. The venue song format can also limit the
opportunities of beginner DJs with smaller collections. “The biggest collection I heard of was 90 000 songs, and I only
have about 4 000.”

DJ Zack was lucky to find a few starting clubs who were
looking for performers, one of which is Bagdad Café, a classic blues and jazz club,
set in a 50’s diner style and owned by Van Hoffnung. Bagdad Café has been in
operation for two months now. “I built it years ago as a copy of the real-life
venue,” explains Van. “It used to be a
live music venue, but I got bored and
let it gather dust...“ Laya Hawker, the Club Manager and Van’s business partner
chimes in: “…which we are still trying to
get out of the corners. We both wanted a place where people could relax and
enjoy great music.” DJ Zack’s first gig at Bagdad Café was to a few members
in the audience. “It was fun to do
anyway, as the few people liked what I played,” DJ Zack reminisces.

I met Laya Hawker and Van Hoffnung at Bagdad Café to
discuss their experiences with new DJs and Zack in particular. DJ Zack and one
of the regular Badad Café patrons, Elli joined in the discussion as well.

Laya: There are a lot of
great clubs in SL, but hard to find one where people can just hang out at.

Van: ...or one that
allows completely green DJs or acts on a stage.

Laya: People need a place
to figure out how things work.

Van: In truth, we welcome
new performers, new DJs.

SLE: That's how Zack
led me to believe.

Zack: Yes, I was surprised
when I came around that they asked me to do a set.

Laya: Our Entertainers and
DJs can have a set spot, or they can drop in and do it on an impromptu basis.

SLE: So, how did you
find Zack?

Laya: I'm not so sure we
found him....

Van: I was introduced to
him by Elli, one of our regulars.

SLE: Okay. So, what
led you to believe he could DJ here?

Laya: He said he wanted to,
and we listened.

SLE: Really, is that
all it took?

Laya: Everyone has to
start somewhere! See, in order to DJ, you have to invest yourself - you need
the music library. You need a stream, and you need the software in order to
stream it, then you have to learn and understand how all these work together.
So if someone goes through all that, why would you not listen?

SLE: Thanks Laya -
that does make sense.

Van: The strange thing
is, it’s hard to find DJs. They all want work and tips, but won't wait to build
a public. If you can’t offer a DJ a crowd, they won’t come - and the crowd
won't come until you win them over.

SLE: Ah, all right.
So, it's a chicken-and-egg thing?

Laya: It really is… It's
slow going: you don't open a club and expect to make money.

SLE: How do you deal
with a DJ prospect if all that doesn't work out? Like, there is a technical
glitch, bad sound quality, dropouts, or dead air?

Laya: Well, life happens. We've
had glitches. DJ Boards freeze up - but you need to just take it all in
stride... With everything, you learn something new from it.

Laya
then went on to describe the welcoming atmosphere of Bagdad Café, and how
building family-like relationships is important. “We may be pixels, but there
are people behind each of us... so you need to interact with those people.” It
really sounds like Bagdad Café is more about the ambience and people than about
just the music. Others chimed in after Laya as well, echoing her sentiments.
Van said, “A club has its regulars just like a bar in RL. Those regulars can be
open to people or closed.”

SLE: So, you have
heard Zack play. How would you compare his style, to others who play here?

Laya: He's got a good feel
for songs that lead into one another.

Elli: Well, Zack doesn't
do just blues, he has his own style and the music so far has been good. He asks
for requests.

Laya: And he was really
good at working in blues, along with the soul and back and forth...

Elli: His last set was
really good. He downloaded stuff he knew we liked, which is good to keep the
customers happy, and he's great fun.

Laya: Again, that goes
back to the ambience... We talk and we listen.

Van: A good DJ knows what
track will follow what track instinctively. Some DJs just throw the music on,
with no flow.

SLE: Surprising to
hear that, knowing Zack is new.

Elli: He learns fast.

SLE: It sounds like
you want to retain him?

Van: He has a love of
music!

Laya: We hope he does stay.

Zack: That I will do! And
I can play here what I like to play.

Van: If you like the
music you're playing and understand it, it is easy to present.

Laya: You had said about
technical issues, Stareyes, Zack had a
couple of them, and there are some people who would have just given up... Zack
kept trying to sort them out, kept playing his tunes. But even with the issues,
Zack did a great set, he kept us engaged using text and keeping us informed.

Elli: And kept saying
sorry.

Laya: That is something
even long term experienced DJs don't do well.

From
the discussion, I got the impression that Zack could not have landed in the
company of any more encouraging and caring people, and for a beginner DJ
something like this can be a great boost in confidence. Bagdad Café really looks
like a promising new venue, and the managers and personnel as well as the
patrons all are open to see it grow, offering their venue for new DJ prospects.

Before joining Bagdad Café, DJ Zack had played at two
other starter clubs, both of which folded almost at their conception. He also passed
an audition at a premier jazz club, and other clubs are soliciting to get him
to play. “In the future, I may need to
limit as to how far and wide I try to reach with my contacts, as the DJing is
actually quite taxing on time.”

With these opportunities at hand, there is no telling how
far his career might take him.

DJ Zack concludes, “It is really instructive learning how the
streaming works, and how to go about creating play lists and responding to
requests and dedications. But the most amazing thing to me has been how helpful
the people on Second Life are, everybody having helped me enormously over the
last few weeks!”